Acts 3-A

The Acts of the Apostles

Thank you guys, and thank you Kristi & Eloise for that wonderful music, but before we continue in our studies of the book of Acts tonight, please if you would:

“Join me in a word of prayer.”

So far in our study in the book of Acts we’ve discussed Jesus’ ascension back to Heaven, the choosing of Mathias to replace Judas, in chapter 1, the coming of the “Holy Spirit, the miracle of the apostle’s speaking in tongues, and the apostle Peter’s first sermon to Israel explaining what was behind the actions of the Holy Spirit in chapter 2. Tonight we’re going to talk about the 2nd miracle performed by the apostles when Peter, with the aid of John healed a man that had been lame from birth and was over 40 years old, as they were going up to the temple to pray. Also we will discuss the apostle’s explanation of this miracle to the Jewish crowd that witnessed it and the explanation they gave to the Jewish religious leaders about the healing.

(Read text) Chapter 3:1-10

As the early Hebrew church is formed, Peter quickly emerges as the prominent leader. After making a passionate and some what persuasive speech to a large crowd back in chapter 2, he soon begins to demonstrate spiritual power and authority similar to what Jesus had demonstrated during His earthly ministry. In this section of the text, Peter heals a beggar who had been crippled from birth. Just like the cases with all of Jesus’ healings, this healing didn’t go unnoticed as well by the Jewish religious leaders, who respond with a show of their own power as we will see in chapter 4 of Acts.

Peter and John were on their way to the afternoon prayer, as all law abiding Jews do, when they encountered a crippled man who, we find out later, was over forty years old from Acts 4:22 (“22 For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.”) Lame from birth and unable to get around on his own, he was completely at the mercy of others. Look at verse 2 (“2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple;”). No doubt his location outside the temple was a planned strategy by the lame man to appeal to all the people on their way into the temple to worship. He was hoping to benefit from their desire to gain merit from God as a result of giving to the poor. But it turned out to be a planned strategy of God as well. Scripture doesn’t say, but I feel sure that Jesus had walked by this same lame beggar several times as He was entering the temple to teach, but left this opportunity for healing specifically to Peter to show the authority and power God had given to the apostles to act as His representatives still offering the kingdom to the nation of Israel even after they had rejected their Messiah that God had already sent. This is truly an act of love on God’s behalf to answer the prayer that Jesus prayed in Luke 23:34. (“34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”) It’s truly amazing that God would give Israel so many chances to repent and turn to Him again after they had chosen to have His own Son, Jesus, crucified. That’s love that transcends all understanding! He continued His offer to repent and for the kingdom to come until the stoning of Stephen later in chapter 7 of Acts. This was 7 years after where we are studding now in chapter 3, when enough was enough and God turned to the gentiles, the rest of the world, to set aside a people for His own. I’m really getting ahead of myself here, sorry, at least I stayed in the book of Acts this time, now back to our study. The lame man asked Peter and John for alms, as he did everyone else who came along. In other words, he was placed at the entrance to the temple by his friends so he could beg for money from all the people who were going in. But the apostles response was very different from the other people. Notice verses 4 and 5. (“4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.”). The beggar had hoped for money, but what he received was much more valuable than any amount of money he would have ever received. Verses 6-8 (“6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.”) Perhaps Peter had been observant when Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead in Luke 8:54 witch reads: (“54 But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.”). Peter didn’t merely tell the man to get up; he gave him a command, “rise up and walk”and then extended his hand to help him.

The healed beggar’s reaction is truly noteworthy. This was what I call a real and undeniable miracle from God. The man had never walked in his entire life. Peter helped him up and he immediately jumped to his feet and started running and jumping in the temple courts. No physical therapy, no having to learn to walk like a toddler, no taking it easy for a while, this man jumped up and began to run through the temple praising God. There was no question a miracle was done right before their eyes. And as all the people in the temple witnessed this, they recognized the man as the lame beggar from the entrance and were truly amazed at what they had seen with their own eyes. Notice verse 10. (“10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”). I would have been amazed too witnessing something as incredible as that, wouldn’t you?

Moving forward I’m going to ask Elois to read verses 11-26

(Read text) Verses 11-26

Even in his overwhelming joy, the healed beggar held on to Peter and John. Notice verse 11(“11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.”) Solomon’s Colonnade next to the outer court of the temple, was a roofed porch supported by rows of tall stone columns. Consequently, it didn’t take long for a huge crowd to form. Peter, for a second time, found himself surrounded by a crowd of curious onlookers wanting an explanation for the miracle they had witnessed, just like he was back in chapter 2. He began by telling them, essentially, “Don’t look at me. John and I didn’t perform this miracle!”. The miracle should be attributed to God who has glorified His Son Jesus by doing this. Let’s look again at verses 12. (“12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? ( notice no mention of gentiles here) Or why look so intently at us, as though by our on power or godliness we had made this man walk?). 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know.).

Peter used the imagery of the suffering Savior as described in Isaiah 52:13–53:12, an unfamiliar concept for most in the crowd who still anticipated a heroic military leader as their Messiah. He went on to provide three specific ways that Jesus had suffered at the hands of the people:

1. They—including those in the crowd—had demanded that Jesus be killed even after Pilate tried to exonerate Him. Look at verse 13. (“13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.”)

2. They had demanded release of a murderer rather than God’s own Son. Look at verse 14. Acts 3:14 (“14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,”)

3. They had killed the very One who made life possible for them, but God had raised Him from the dead. Looking again at verse 15. (“15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” )

It was only through faith in Jesus’ power that Peter and John were able to heal the crippled man. Notice verse 16. (“16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”) It must have been difficult to hear that, even though God had foretold through prophesy that the Messiah would suffer. Look at verse 18. ( “18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.”) But the suffering had been at their own hands and they knew it.

Peter wasn’t attempting to instill quite as much guilt here as he was back in chapter 2 and verses 12-16 here in chapter 3. He acknowledged that the people had acted ignorantly. Notice verse 17 (“17 “Yet now, brethren, I know that you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers.”) The apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 2:8 (“8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”) Yet as a result of their actions, they needed to repent. They had totally missed the prophesy spoken about Jesus and allowed Him to die; they mus’t overlook the eternal significance of their only source of restoration and salvation. Let’s read Verses 19-21. (“19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”) But they did.

Lets take just a moment here to discuss what the “times of refreshing” and the “times of the restoration of all things” mean. Peter is referring here to the time when Christ will return to the earth, defeat the anti-christ, bound satan for a thousand years, and set up His literal kingdom here on earth, known as “the millennial reign of Christ”. At the end of the 1000 year reign the “great white thrown judgement”will take place, where satan and all unbelievers in Christ are thrown into the “lake of fire”. If you recall back in chapter 1, just before Jesus’ ascension the apostles asked Him in verse 6 (“6 Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”) This is what Peter is talking about when he mentions the “restoration of all things”. This is important because Peter was expecting all this to happen in just a few years. He had no idea about the age of grace we are living in today. God had not revealed it yet. Remember us talking about the Bible being a progressive revelation from God. God never revealed the time that we’re living in now until Acts chapter 9 as you will see when we get there.

Peter made another point that would have been important to the people in the crowd. They hadn’t just missed out on the message of the prophets concerning Jesus; even Moses, whom they revered, had told them to look for a prophet like him in Deuteronomy 18:15–19 (“15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ 17 “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.”). Just like Peter did in verses 22-23. The other prophets from Samuel onward had then reaffirmed Moses’ message of a coming servant of God. Look at verses 24-26. (“24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. 25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”) Moses and the prophets had done as God had instructed, and now it was up to the people to do the same by turning from their wicked ways. Have you ever thought about were you would be if you never turned from your wicked ways? Or have you ever thought about were the nation of Israel would be today if they would have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior? I guess the latter doesn’t really matter because we all know they didn’t. But because they didn’t accept Him, God has given the opportunity for the rest of the world to except Him, and obtain eternal life through faith in Jesus. What a gift of grace. There’s no better way for God to show His love for us than to offer us the free gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven. All we have to do for this free gift is to believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lets pray together:

As Kristi and Eloise are getting us ready to sing our last hymn tonight, and as we’re considering all the things we will soon be learning together about the beginning of the church in the book of Acts, and if you have never honored God before by asking His Son, Jesus, to come into your heart and be your personal Lord and savior, this would be the perfect time to do just that. God has made that so easy for us to do. The Bible says that anyone, and I do mean anyone, who calls on the name of the Lord WILL BE SAVED. It doesn’t matter what your past might look like. Remember the apostle Paul, before the Lord saved him on that road to Damascus, how he persecuted the church, and had the Lord’s people put in prison and even executed. And remember King David who commited adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed in battle. Those two “Great men of God” commited terrible sins, and the Lord forgave them, and even chose them to do great things for Him. The Lord doesn’t care about our past, He just cares about our future. And He wants everyone to spend that future with Him in eternity, in that place He calls heaven. Don’t wait another second. If you have any doubt at all about your eternal security, or what’s going to happen to you when you die physically, I beg you to get it settled right now. Don’t wait another second. Get it taken care of right this minute, right here,--- just quietly, with your eyes closed, heads bowed, and your heart’s toward God, just pray a little prayer like this..............Just pray......

Please, as we’re singing our last hymn, if you need to, just pray that little prayer I mentioned as we sing. And God will save you !! Lets sing together.